The European Data Protection Supervisor, Wojciech Wiewiórowski, presented the European Data Protection Board (EDPB)’s annual report for the year 2021 to Members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) on Wednesday 20 April.
During the year 2021, the EDPB issued some 88 opinions, compared to 27 in the previous year. “There is a growing recognition of the importance of data protection”, summarised Wiewiórowski.
In addition, the European Data Protection Supervisor has pointed out that the actions implemented are not “always well accepted by the European institutions”. He also stressed that further efforts should be made, especially in a context of increasing constraints and threats, and in the light of the numerous recent or ongoing legislative texts in the field of data protection.
In addition to some cases concerning compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Wiewiórowski said that the EDPB is still conducting several investigations, including on some public ‘cloud’ contracts. The “results” will be known “later this year”, he said, without giving further details.
During the speeches of the LIBE Committee members, several MEPs questioned the effectiveness of some of the provisions of the GDPR and the power of the EDPS to act in cases such as the Pegasus spyware case (see EUROPE 12934/6).
Finally, several MEPs, such as Saskia Bricmont (Greens/EFA, Belgium), called for more guarantees of the EDPS’ powers, as some entities or institutions have “circumvented some of the warnings and undermined the legitimacy” of the supervisory body, she said.
See the report: https://aeur.eu/f/1bh (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)